Hi
I have read that some of the people on the forum have played the above rules. I have a question and wonder if someone would be able to give me an answer.
Is the turn sequence such that one player completes all of his actions and then the other player does his. Or is it that one player does one part of the turn sequence and then the other player does his. So player 1 moves and then player 2 moves.

I have a game tomorrow and would like to make sure I am playing the rules correctly.

Darkman wrote:Is there any advantage in a field column.
Also what counts as a supporting unit,in melee?
And one that is not relevant for tomorrow but do cavalry get 2D6 or 3D6 when charging.

Remember these rules are for the ACW so no attack columns just column of March and if you are shot at or attacked in this formation there are big penalties.
Supporting unit is when two units attack one, an example is shown in the melee section.
Cavalry charge 12" + 2d6.

He is a member of the forum but he told me this morning that he's having trouble logging in so you can either ask me the questions and I'll try and answer them or pass the onto Kev.
He does have a Facebook page called The Iron Brigade which you could contact him on.
Dave

Questions.
When you fall back do you avoid obstacles wood etc. So if you had just moved over a fence and then received fire and had to fall back do you move the full distance or just move back over the fence?

Is there a minimum distance you have to move in order to count as advancing?

Do Commanders get any move benefits on road etc. Just seemed strange that a cavalry unit can move a minimum of 19 inches on a road but a commander only 13. (we allowed them to count as cavalry in column of march when moving)

Does deploying skirmishers count as a formation change? and after deployment can they still move?

In melee do Confederate cavalry gain the 10% advantage mounted and dismounted? It seems to imply that Union cavalry only get a bonus when mounted.

If the modifiers bring the score to 0 or less does the target unit still test?

If a commander moves and attaches to a unit can the unit still move taking the commander with them (we said yes it can) and when he moves to contact is that the time he can allocate attrition. (we decided it was at the start of the next move)

in formations at the beginning of the book there is a Field column formation. I can not see why it is there.

If you form an artillery battery up on two different faces does that mean it can fire at full effect at two different targets?

Some of these questions came up after the game when we were reading though the rules.

We had a good game. Will look at changing a couple of things for the next game. Supported line should not be as good as firing as it is. We are undecided about the 10% rule. I lost 3 out of my 5 units to it and they were all at full strength.
Thought that an extra 2 attrition loss plus what ever the failure table is might be better.

Hi Steve,
In answer to your previous questions Dave has been correct with his explanations, your other queries I will answer in the order you asked them.

1. Falling back is the full distance ignoring all obstacles.
The reasoning behind this is that any obstacle becomes much less of an obstruction if you are trying to put distance between yourself and the enemy.

2. There is no minimum distance for advancing, you are either going forward or you are not.

3. If your commander is mounted them he is treated the same as mounted cavalry.

4. Deploying skirmishers does not count as a formation change,
they are deployed up to 6 inches from parent unit, if the parent unit then moves the skirmishers are moved again in order to maintain that gap.
This represents the skirmishers doubling forward in their initial deployment.

5. Confederate cavalry maintain their 10% modifier when dismounted due to their superior close quarter fire power (shotguns etc ) however voluntarily using dismounted cavalry in a melee situation should be avoided as it is not really keeping in with the spirit of the conflict.

6. This is a good point as this was unintentionally omitted from the rule book. We have always played the rules with there always being a nominal 5% if score is reduced to 0 or 95% if 100.

7. You are correct with the first point the unit and commander can move in the same move he is attached. On your second point he allocates any attrition immediately.
In effect he is encouraging and raising his troops morale with his presence and rousing words !
Delaying for a turn would mean units and commanders could be lost to easily especially if down to 1 or 2 attrition.

8. A field column enables a unit to manoeuvre more easily on the battlefield and not have to change formation as it may have to do if it were in line or supported line in order to move where space is restricted.

9. A battery can split fire between 2 targets as per Infantry unit with each target requiring half its normal % score to pass.

Can't say that we have ever had a problem with supported line firing being too good but feel free to change it, like wise the 10% rule works well as is and does not usually happen more than once or twice in a game and sometimes not at all, sounds like you maybe need new dice Steve !

The rules are very flexible and players are free to play them as they wish
the main objective is to have a fun and enjoyable game.

Hi Kev
Thanks alot for the replies. Yes I might need some more dice as my first test was for my experienced gun battery and I threw 00.

We thought that as 2 supported lines can cover the same frontage as a normal line they had a much better chance of causing a failed test. We wanted to encourage people to fire in line rather than adopt a Napoleonic approach to playing.

Question I forgot to ask was this. A unit is attacked in the flank and passes its test. What are its options when it has its turn?